No Country for Old Men

In chapter 1, Old Timers, we hear the voice of Sheriff Ed Tom Bell as he struggles to 'measure' this new manifestation of criminality that presents itself today.  He ponders how the old timers would handle this present presentation of what we know as age old sin, but only in new skin.  He also seems to gauge his sense of self-worth in dealing with present problems, while romanticizing the past.  While we should be introspective as Ed Tom, we shouldn't tire of nor retire from properly training ourselves to be viable discerners of our culture and world to remain effective in it and not of it.

Ecclesiastes 1:9

Amplified Bible (AMP)

⁹The thing that has been--it is what will be again, and that which has been done is that which will be done again; and there is nothing new under the sun.

Matthew 6:34

Amplified Bible (AMP)

³⁴So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.

In chapter 11, The Best Deal, Anton catches up with Carson Wells and before dispatching of him raises the question of the 'rule that brought him to this'.  Later on the phone Anton gives Llewelyn an opportunity to save his wife, but he remains defiant and vows to make Anton 'his special project'.  Both instances calls in to question the way a man would govern himself in dealing with the world around him.  In very congruent ways can we identify with the apprehension to deal with our own very rebellious ways in which we navigate our own world if we only have the courage to do so.

Proverbs 14:12

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹²There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but at the end of it is the way of death.

Mark 8:36

Amplified Bible (AMP)

³⁶For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life [^[a]in the eternal kingdom of God]?

In chapter 15, Best I Can Do, we hear Ed Tom continue to struggle to make sense of the past events while lacking a ideal of purpose in the present.  He longs to know that what he did matters and made a difference, but has a hard time believing it.  He appears especially troubled in finding worth in his present state and validation for a purposeful future.  Believers are not immune to this and should daily strive to remain restful and fulfilled in relationship with God through his son Jesus and by the Holy Spirit rather than become a religious bunch that is approved by doing instead of being.  

Philippians 2:16

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁶Holding out [to it] and offering [to all men] the Word of Life, so that in the day of Christ I may have something of which exultantly to rejoice and glory in that I did not run my race in vain or spend my labor to no purpose.

2 Timothy 4:7

Amplified Bible (AMP)

⁷I have fought the good (worthy, honorable, and noble) fight, I have finished the race, I have kept (firmly held) the faith.